Four people have been killed in a Hydro One helicopter crash in the municipality of Tweed, the Ontario Provincial Police have confirmed.

Emergency services first responded to a helicopter crash northeast of Tweed and south of Flinton, near Upper Flinton Road, at approximately noon on Thursday, acting Sgt. Tina Hunt of the OPP said.

Hydro One said in a news release that it was “deeply saddened” to confirm that the crash of one of its helicopters resulted in four deaths. Names of the victims will not be released until next of kin are notified.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with their families at this difficult time,” a statement from Hydro One reads. “During this grieving process, we will do everything we can to assist our employees and their families who have been affected in any way, by providing counselling and support.”

The coroner, along with numerous OPP and Hydro One vehicles, were on the scene. The crash occurred near Kim Clayton’s home, slightly over a hill, out of sight of the road in a heavily wooded area.

“Hydro crews have been working on the power lines near our property for the past week and a half, and the helicopter has been working in the area for the past week, so I heard it all week,” Clayton said. “But just before noon it was making a bunch of different sounds that I had become accustomed to, and then there was a loud bang and the house shook. I looked out the window and saw all the men scrambling around, so I went outside and heard them yelling to call 911, the helicopter had crashed. It’s a terrible tragedy.”

Capt. Julie Brunet, public affairs officer with 8 Wing Trenton, said that 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron had been dispatched to the scene just after noon Thursday. Brunet said a Hercules aircraft that had been training in the Peterborough area was redirected to the site and a CH-146 Griffon helicopter was en route after leaving Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

“Transportation Safety Board of Canada has been notified and will be conducting an investigation into the cause of the crash. More information will be released as it becomes available,” Const. Shannon Cork of the OPP said, her voice catching during a media scrum at the scene.

Alex Fournier, spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board, which has sent a team of investigators to the scene, said the chopper was a 1999 AS350 B2. The single-engine helicopters are often used for corporate purposes.

Members of the OPP Emergency Response Team, OPP Forensic Identification Services, an OPP helicopter, the OPP Canine Unit, officers from the Napanee OPP and Ornge Air Ambulance are assisting at the scene.

“I was in disbelief,” Clayton said, adding that at the time she hoped it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. “I was just praying that everyone was OK and that it was just a minor ding of a tree. You watch movies and you think with a helicopter there’s going to be an explosion or something, but there was nothing. So I didn’t think it was going to be as bad as it was.”

Clayton recalled watching the Hydro One team working on the other towers in the area and being impressed.

“I thought they were all really brave,” Clayton said. “You have to be trained really well to be able to hover like that, and do manoeuvres. I was showing my boys pictures.”

She said that as she pieced the tragedy all together — watching the workers’ bodies be placed in ambulances and the yellow police tape go up — she stood there and cried.

“I’m just thinking about the families,” Clayton said. “Those guys came to work this morning and aren’t going home tonight. How do you wrap your head around that?”

We are deeply saddened to confirm an incident involving one of our helicopters in the Tweed area has resulted in four employee fatalities. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families & colleagues at this time.

At approximately 12 pm, Ornge was requested to respond to a helicopter crash near Tweed, ON. An Ornge air ambulance landed on scene, however, we did not transport any patients. Our hearts go out to the friends and family of the crew on board.